On Dec. 29, Volusia County celebrated our 170th anniversary.
One would think after that many years, we would have matured into a place where good governance holds more weight than the profit motives of speculative developers with a chip in the game?
I was contemplating our collective civic fate recently and was reminded of that famous scene from Billy Rose’s Broadway play Jumbo when Jimmy Durante – leading a live elephant — is stopped by a police officer who asks, “What are you doing with that elephant?”
Durante’s reply—“What elephant?”
That comedic exchange reminded me of the Volusia County Council’s reaction as flood victims continue to show up, en masse, and demand action from those they elected to represent their interests.
Let’s face it, with Volusia now ranked as the most flood-prone county in the state of Florida (seventh in the nation), the problem is getting harder to ignore. But that hasn’t stopped our elected dullards in the Ivory Tower of Power at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center in DeLand from continuing to ignore the obvious and kick the can down the trail with frightening regularity.
But I’m more than happy to keep pointing it out from my perch up here in the cheap seats…
Look, like Roosevelt said, no one likes to hear where the strongman stumbled, or how the doer of deeds could have done them better; however, in my view, external criticism is important to moderating an impassive, self-serving and unresponsive bureaucracy.
At best, I am a dilettante editorialist; at worst a blowhard with internet access — always musing on the motivations of those perennial politicians, influential insiders, and mediocre do-nothings who, in my view, are actively destroying our quality of life — clumsily plowing forward without a comprehensive vision for our future beyond the mercenary self-interests of their political benefactors.
Over time, those figureheads on the dais of power have been conditioned to simply do as they are told, convinced that their senior staff are all-knowing soothsayers — the truth, the light, and the way”— and any external input or criticism is never to be believed (unless, of course, they are paying a high-priced consultant to tell them what they want/need to hear…).
I take no pleasure in being the proverbial turd in the civic punchbowl. Barker the Bitcher — the crusty curmudgeon with a jaded view, the pissed-off pessimist — always disapproving and disgruntled, tilting at windmills and challenging the perceived status quo.
(That’s not true. I relish the role…)
Last week, after I took the Volusia County Council to task for their praxis of “public policy by ambush”— the art of deftly passing controversial off-the-agenda items with little, if any, public notice or input — (most recently limiting the public business meeting to just six hours), I received a terse note from a powerful sitting politician taking me to the woodshed.
My high-powered critic accused me of ignoring the “truth and facts.” Charging that I am engaging in “character assassination” and being a “flat out bully.”
That’s rich…
This from a ranking member of that savage tribe who has routinely engaged in the worst form of political oppression, marginalization, and calumniation in suppressing Chairman Jeff Brower’s dogged efforts to urge definitive action on the most galvanizing issue of our time…
Despite the heartburn this blogsite continues to evoke in our thin-skinned powers-that-be, I plan to keep up this Quixotic pursuit of spouting one man’s jaded opinion on the issues of the day — neither always right nor always wrong.
In my view, when it comes to the intrigues of “Fun Coast” politics and government, we desperately need an alternative opinion, a challenge to the sedating drone of a canned “media release” produced by some “public information” mouthpiece paid handsomely to spin the facts and construct a skewed narrative.
Especially now that our neutered watchdog of a local newspaper continues its transformation into a poor man’s Zagat’s guide…
While limiting public meetings to six hours may reduce the Volusia County Council’s time on the hot seat frustrated residents dealing with the personal and financial devastation of development-induced flooding are not going to stop demanding answers, nor should they.
And it is increasingly clear they are not going to accept the old “bureaucratic twostep” much longer.
…
In my view, at the dawn of 2025, if Volusia County’s highly compensated Public Works Director, Growth and Resource Mismanagement Director, or any of County Manager George “The Wreck” Recktenwald’s senior coterie of incompetents still need more time-wasting studies and analysis to address rampant flooding across the width and breadth of our region, we truly are in trouble…
I’ve said this ad nauseam, but rather than confront the elephant in the room, our elected dullards stumble about in some stupor of conceit, unable to comprehend that We, The Little People are smart enough to understand that giving those inept senior officials who got us into this damnable infrastructure and flooding quagmire more time and money to figure a “solution” is the very definition of civic insanity.
That’s the uncomfortable truth no one in a position of power wants to address.
“What elephant?” indeed…
No elected official who genuinely cares about the real needs of their long-suffering constituents should expect us to forgive, forget, and hand over more of our hardearned money to those who have proved unworthy of our sacred trust.
In my view, it’s time we began that difficult discussion.
— Barker writes a blog, usually about local government, at barkersview.org. A retired police chief, Barker says he lives as a semi-recluse in an arrogantly shabby home in coastal Central Florida, with his wife and two dogs. This is excerpted from his blog, lightly edited (he swears a lot) and reprinted with his permission.
